How to Defragment a Hard Drive
Simple PC Maintenance Routines Can Optimize a PC Significantly
Hard drive defragmentation is one of the simplest routines a user can perform in order to speed up a PC. Defragmenting a hard drive is easy and there are no risks associated with it.
Why Does a Hard Drive Need Defragmentation?
Every time a new file is created, or an existing one is modified, small pieces of data are written all over the hard drive. When a file is deleted, the blocks that have been occupied by it are freed and can be used to write new data. When a new file is created, the attempt is to use consecutive blocks because this way all the operations with this file are performed faster.
However, when there are no free consecutive blocks, the size of which is enough to accommodate the new file (because the hard drive is fragmented), the file is written onto any free blocks available. The more a user reads/modifies/deletes files, the more fragmented the hard drive becomes. At one point, even a very small file can't be written onto consecutive blocks.
This inevitably slows down operations with files and makes a computer run slowlier. This is why it is recommendable to occasionally defragment a hard drive. The performance improvement after defragmentation might not be comparable to upgrading the computer but it can be quite tangible, especially if the hard drive is a large one and if it was very fragmented.
Steps to Defragment a Hard Drive
There are many ways to defragment a hard drive and one of the easiest is with the help of Disk Defragmenter. Disk Defragmenter is a small utility but it is great for the job. There is no need to download it from somewhere because Disk Defragmenter is included in Windows.
The steps to defragment a hard drive are the following:
1. If there are any open files and programs on this drive, they must be closed first.
2. Right-click the My Computer icon on the desktop. This will open the context menu. Select the Manage option. This will open Computer Management. (It is also possible to click the Start button, select Start Menu -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter.)
3. The left pane of the Computer Management screen has the Disk Defragmenter command.
4. In the right pane of the Computer Management screen select the drive to defragment.
5. This step is optional but makes sense to perform it. Prior to defragmentation, a fragmentation check could be performed. If the hard drive isn't very fragmented, then defragmentation is not necessary. The Analyze button in the right pane will start the fragmentation check.
6. If the drive needs defragmenting, then click the Defragment button to start defragmenting it.
That is all to be done in order to defragment a hard drive. Defragmenting a hard drive is nothing more than moving blocks of data in order to arrange the free space in consecutive blocks. Depending on the degree of fragmentation and the size of the hard drive, defragmentation could take some time. When the defragmentation procedure is over, a report is displayed.
This report shows what has been done and if it is necessary to defragment further. If the hard drive was very fragmented, it is quite possible than one or more additional passes might be necessary.
Hard Drive
|
What do you think about this article?
Comments
More in Technology
Latest Articles